The UK Government has become a financial sponsor of the New York City Tartan Day Parade.
John Lamont the Conservative MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, and the job of representing both Scotland and the UK Government at Tartan Week in New York falls to him. This is the second year he has attended the event and he told The Daily Express that the UK Government had not previously been as involved in the event as it might have been.
The Minister sent The Edinburgh Reporter a short video in which he explained what his few days in the US have been about, and he also confirmed that the UK Government are sponsoring the parade this year along with “the organisers”.
We have asked the UK Government to confirm how much the sponsorship is, and have also asked The Scottish Government to confirm their position.
The NYC Tartan Day Committee is set up as a non-profit. The committee is comprised of representatives from The Saint Andrew’s Society of the State of New York, The New York Caledonian Club, The American-Scottish Foundation, and Clan Campbell.
Business Investment
The Minister also explained the purpose of the rest of the trip: “I’ve been very keen to speak to businesses that are already operating and working in Scotland, but also to speak to other businesses or investors who might be looking to come to Scotland to encourage them to do so. So it’s a very exciting week and it is a great opportunity to consolidate the base and strong ties that already exist between our very great nations.
”We’ve had some very good roundtable sessions with the FinTech sector, and the energy sector, which are clearly big parts of the Scottish economy. We shouldn’t forget about all the other iconic brands already being sold from Scotland into the US – for example, whisky, Scottish salmon, shortbread from Scotland are obviously iconic brands and are so enjoyed here in the US.
“I’m very keen to see more of them, sold from Scotland into the US. We’re very pleased to be working, for example, with Diageo, a big Scottish whisky producer, Walker’s shortbread and other businesses to see how we can build on those existing ties.”
Last year at Tartan Week the Minister confirmed the payment to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society of around £7 million to help them secure premises to use as a Fringe Hub. But it was also at this time that the Foreign Secretary rebuked The Scottish Government for Scotland’s foreign trips. The then Foreign Secretary James Cleverly issued the warning in a letter to UK diplomats saying that other countries should not to arrange meetings with Holyrood ministers without the involvement of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution External Affairs and Culture Angus Robertson is also in New York on behalf of The Scottish Government having visited Washington DC earlier in the week.
An earthquake measuring 3.8 magnitude was recorded 7km South west of Gladstone New Jersey and spread to New York on Friday, causing some buildings to shake.
Paul Earle, a seismologist at the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program said: “Earthquakes in this region are uncommon but not unexpected. It’s likely people near the epicenter are going to feel aftershocks for this earthquake in the magnitude 2-3 range, and there’s a small chance there can be an earthquake as large or larger, following an earthquake like this.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
